Flint Hill Boys Stage Dramatic Comeback, Advance to Quarterfinals

Having taken its first lead of the second half with just 14 seconds remaining in the game, Flint Hill’s Bryan Gross got tied up with a player from Bishop Sullivan in their VISAA first-round game Tuesday night, resulting in a minor scuffle.

Gross was whistled for a blocking foul, but another member of Bishop Sullivan’s team ran on the court from the bench, drawing a technical. After Sullivan made both of its free throws to tie the game at 55, Evan Straka knocked down both technical free throws to put Flint Hill back up 57-55. The Huskies inbounded the ball to Mo Berchie, and he made his free throws, the final two of his game-high 29 points, as Flint Hill advanced to the quarterfinals with a 59-55 win.

The Huskies trailed the entire second half, and faced a deficit as large as 11 points in the third quarter. Coach Rico Reed said it was then that his team started to attack the basket on offense.

“I think that helped us,” Reed said. “We got some second-shot opportunities. We did an excellent job on the offensive boards, and it gave us some extra possessions as a result.”

Flint Hill used a great defensive effort in the second half, and Reed pointed especially to Trevor Ogundepo as key to that team effort. Having chipped away at Bishop Sullivan’s 11-point lead, the Huskies tied the game with less than two minutes to play. They got the ball back with 1:06 left, and put the ball in Berchie’s hands.

Just as he had done all half, he again attacked the basket and gave his team the lead with 14 seconds left, setting the stage for the frantic finish.

“We just asked the kids to believe,” Reed said. “They’ve done a pretty good job buying into it. We got off to a slow start, but we believe we’re playing as well as anyone in the area. We’ve won 12 of 14 games, and our kids believe we can win any game.”

They’ll need that faith Wednesday, as they take on vaunted Episcopal in the quarters. The Maroon won the IAC regular season and tournament championships, and beat Flint Hill 63-46 in Oakton in early January.

“[Episcopal] has three of the best players in the state of Virginia in Kethan Savage, Adala Moto and Sadiq Abubakar,” Reed said. “We know we have our hands full. We believe that we deserve another shot at them and we’re looking forward to it.”